


Believe In You

by DorkPatroller (Lilmissprine)



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst, Demonic Possession, Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest Spoilers, M/M, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 11:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8159995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilmissprine/pseuds/DorkPatroller
Summary: Laslow has noticed that Xander isn't acting like himself. By the time he realizes what is happening, it may be too late.(Xanlow Week Bonus Drabble, Day 3: Fear.)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kibume](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibume/gifts).



> I already had all my prompts figured out but I saw this lovely image and immediately realized I needed to write another one tbh. http://kibu-me.tumblr.com/post/151051715204/xanlow-week-2016-day-3-fear-what-if-anankos-had
> 
> Honestly though tons of credit and thanks to @kibu-me for allowing me to use this image and idea as a prompt. 
> 
> Conquest route.

In the fall that followed the end of the war, Prince Xander was faced with a lot of stressful negotiations. Although none of the sins of his father were his fault directly, he took responsibility for all of them. Princess Hinoka promised that they would make up a peace treaty following her coronation and rebuild efforts. Both countries had suffered in this war. Laslow was empathetic to the princesses Hinoka and Sakura. They had lost so many people they loved in this war. Their mother, their brothers, many friends…

Laslow made the decision in the fall that followed the end of the war that he could not leave Nohr until his lord was crowned king, and until he knew that the peace treaties were made. He would not leave him in a time of potential war. He did not want to leave him at all, if he was honest.

…

 

In the winter that followed the end of the war, Prince Xander became King Xander. The party that followed was enormous and full of cheers, smiles, drinking, and certainly dancing. Laslow had held out a hint of hope that his new king would give him the honor of a dance (although he knew Xander had far higher priorities than the feelings of his retainer).

To his surprise Xander did guide him out in a dance. And then, when the dance was through and Laslow was counting his blessings to have been noticed at all… then his king took him by his hand and guided him to duck behind a doorway, to find someplace quiet.

Xander asked Laslow if he would allow him to court him, in the winter that followed the war, and Laslow was ecstatic to say yes.

 

…

 

Courtship was not supposed to be like this, Laslow thought once in passing while Xander sucked a red welt into the skin of his collarbone. Tradition said that courtship was free of temptation, but as it turned out by the time spring rolled around the temptation was far too strong for either of them to give a damn. Nothing about their relationship was traditional from there forward. Laslow took care of his liege as he always had, and then in more ways than that when he was given the chance.

Spring brought with it birds and bees and flowers and sweet scents and even though Nohr was recovering from war and was the darkest kingdom, it was still a lovely time of year and a change of pace from the harsh winter. Spring brought with it first kisses, timid touches, and eventually all remaining willpower to be traditional vanished and King Xander was given the opportunity to see and touch his retainer in ways he never had before.

 

…

 

The summer was hotter than usual and full of change. When the summer began Laslow said goodbye to his dear friends, who returned to Ylisse without him. When the summer ended, Camilla vanished. All of the Nohrian siblings were distraught. Camilla’s disappearance was devastating, and she left without so much as a word or a note.

After Laslow said goodbye, but before Camilla disappeared, however… right in the middle of summer something beautiful happened. The King of Nohr and his beloved retainer announced their engagement, and for a moment everyone was happy.

 

…

 

Laslow supposed he started noticing something was wrong with Xander when the summer came to a close and the leaves began to turn. His liege would experience headaches far more often. He thought perhaps it was the stress of being king, the stress of planning a wedding, the stress of losing not one, but two siblings. When Camilla disappeared so did her younger sister, in an effort to track her down and bring her home. With her went her retainers and some of her close friends.

Laslow knew that each day without his sisters Xander worried more and more about their wellbeing.

 

…

 

The first time it happened was during a bath. It was the two of them together. Laslow had closed his eyes and laid his head against his fiancé’s chest, content to lay in the steaming water with him. Xander had seemed content too, for a while. He drew his fingers in gentle circles along Laslow’s back and his breathing was even and calm.

And then, very suddenly, it was not. Very suddenly his heart rate sped up and his breathing was short and Laslow leaned off of him curiously. Xander pushed him back by his shoulder and with his other hand gripped his own damp hair so tight that Laslow almost thought he might rip it out. His eyes…

Laslow loved the color of his liege’s eyes very much, and he knew that when they flashed an eerie purple like that… it was not correct. He was nervous but just as suddenly as it began Xander exhaled all of his tension and let go of both Laslow’s shoulder and of his hair. Laslow thought his shoulder would bruise, but he was too worried to mention it. Xander complained of a headache, after that.

 

…

 

Laslow did not know what had gotten into Xander. He canceled the peace talk with Hoshido and refused to reschedule at the moment. When he asked him why, Xander’s eyes would glaze over and he would ignore (or forget?) the question.

Laslow was worried.

 

…

 

Laslow knew his friends had gone home already, but he sometimes wondered if what they had done was enough. They had made a promise to Anankos to destroy him but… was destroying king Garon really destroying the dragon?

Once before Xander spoke of a time when his father had been gentle and loving, and Xander had aspired to be just like him. He said he was a strict and fair leader. Laslow had never imagined the king like that, but he knew that Xander was like that. Strict, fair, calm.

Or at least he was. Lately his ideas seemed more geared towards… conquest. He spoke to Laslow about taking ownership of the ice tribe lands once and for all, once. Laslow’s eyes had narrowed, and he asked him why he would ever want to do such a thing. He asked him if he had gone insane.

Xander grew very quiet then, and stared only at the floor. Laslow snapped his fingers gently in front of his face until Xander’s eyes flashed that eerie glow again, and then they faded and he looked up into his fiancé’s eyes. He said he did not know why he thought of that.

 

…

 

Laslow should not have been sleeping with his lord by any means as they were not yet married and it only went to make him look bad. Still, he did it anyway, because he did not care so much for his own reputation and because he worried over the headaches his lover had been having so often lately.

He woke up one such night to Xander tossing and turning, and when he opened his eyes his king was clutching his head and groaning in pain. Laslow nearly panicked, and he shook him awake. Xander’s eyes opened and once more lit up purple. When he blinked and reopened them, they returned to the warm red color he knew them to be.

“Something is wrong with me.” He whispered, nearly urgently. Laslow combed his fingers gently through his tousled hair and waited for him to explain. He did not, not really. He said “Perhaps our throne is cursed.”

Laslow could recall whispering to his lord. “Nothing is wrong with you.” He promised, but Xander gripped his hand, twisted their fingers together, and he looked afraid.

“Do not let me become my father.”

 

…

 

Xander never spoke of what he said that night again, but Laslow thought of it every day. He walked once to the throne room and brushed his fingertips over the glorious Nohrian throne. Surely there was nothing cursed about it, was there? With another glance around the room he found himself looking up.

He supposed he had forgotten that there was a massive statue of Anankos built into the ceiling. He looked upon it and felt ashamed. He felt as though he had not finished what he started, and that the dragon was not gone.

If the dragon was not gone…

Laslow could vaguely remember the late Prince Takumi complaining of headaches, screaming of the pain in his head. Corrin once explained that he was possessed, that the same evil that had destroyed Garon was destroying him as well.

…If the dragon was not gone, Laslow worried that perhaps it would try to destroy his beloved Xander, too.

 

…

 

Laslow took his concerns to Corrin, as he felt they were the only one who might believe him. When Corrin listened and nodded their head, there was only one concern to voice. “Azura was the only one who could sing the song, Laslow. Without her song and her amulet…”

Laslow felt a brick-like weight settle in his belly. He must have looked as pale as he felt because Corrin sighed and said “There might be _one way_ …”

 

…

 

“She asked me never to use it.” Shigure was quiet when he spoke. Corrin had suggested that they ask him. Laslow hated to ask him. Azura had passed away after the war. She passed away using the very magic that he was there to ask Shigure to use and… Well, Inigo had no children, but if he did he certainly wouldn’t have wanted them risking their lives.

“Perhaps I can use it?” Laslow asked. His hands were sweating in his gloves, but he had no idea what else to do or say. “I can return it to you afterwards, I… If you teach me the song, perhaps..?”

“I do not… think it is that simple.” Shigure whispered. “I believe it has to do with our lineage. My mother never told me much about it, but… I feel as though it is deeply rooted to our bloodline.”

“Please, please let me try, Shigure. I have to try. I can’t…I can’t lose him.”

Shigure sighed and looked like his heart was heavy when he left Laslow and Corrin. For a moment Laslow worried their conversation had ended and that his only hope had fallen through. Instead Shigure returned, and on his neck he wore his mother’s pendant.

 

…

 

“Corrin! Laslow!”

Leo. He rode to them on horseback and prevented them from entering Windmire momentarily. Shigure’s Pegasus halted above them, hesitating as well at the urgent tone of Leo’s voice.

“Lord Leo?” Laslow asked. He was bothered by the younger prince’s appearance. He was… disheveled. Not just his collar, either. “Are you alright?”

“It’s too late, Laslow. It’s not safe to be around my brother any longer. We’ve evacuated the castle.”

Laslow’s heart dropped to his knees and he shook his head in disbelief. “It isn’t too late. We only have been gone for two weeks! This…”

“He is trying to mobilize an army, Laslow. With all due respect, your departure made him worse. Your presence may have been all that was grounding him.” 

Fury rose in his throat, and also a sick feeling of bile, and Laslow shook his head. “Well, Lord Leo, with _all due respect_ , I refuse to believe it!” He rode ahead of them, and Leo called out after him. He rode the horse with purpose. He had to save Xander. There was no way that his fiancé was gone.

 

…

 

The castle walls were hollow and empty and void of even light. The throne room, however… the throne room was spinning with bright, purple light. Laslow recognized it as the same light that had been shrouding the eyes of his lover, lately. The door was cracked open, and so Laslow pushed his way in. Instantly his eyes were irritated by swirling, whipping, magical winds that funneled around his king.

“Milord, I—Augh!” He stopped midway through his sentence when something cut him. Shattered glass from a window, he realized, and it was spinning around in the air as well. He lifted his hand to touch his cheek. There was a sizable cut there, and he knew blood stained the tips of his gloves, but he couldn’t focus on such a minor injury.

They were supposed to be getting married in the spring. The very last thing Laslow could have expected to happen, if he had been asked a year before, was that the man he loved would become a monster. But he hadn’t. Not yet.

When Laslow looked at him, at the back of his king, he looked human. Or… somewhat human. Purple light came off of him in waves, but he wasn’t… Well he certainly wasn’t the monster that Garon had been and… Laslow could only pray that he wasn’t underneath his beautiful exterior because… he could still so vividly remember Xander asking him to save him from that.

“No one else dares enter the castle walls. They are all afraid of me.”

Laslow was sure Xander’s voice was more gravely than normal. How could this have happened? He sucked in a breath and took a few steps closer. Perhaps it was ill-thought to come here alone. He shouldn’t have argued with Lord Leo, he should have waited for his advice. He was a realist and often blunt but he would never give up on his brother without a fight. None of them would.

“They believe I have gone mad. They believe me to be fulfilling my role as my father’s son. So, tell me…” He didn’t turn around, not really. He looked over his shoulder and he looked… different. Wrong. Laslow couldn’t recall him looking that way at anyone. Like he would take subtle pleasure in killing them.

Laslow grunted in pain when another shard of glass cut through the fabric of his shoulder and nicked his arm. Xander’s voice was wrong. His eyes were wrong. The way he was looking at him was _wrong_. Where was his fiancé? Where was the peaceful king?

“Do you fear me?” Xander turned to face him entirely, and drew his sword from its scabbard. Siegfried bounced around the purple light further. He pointed his blade at Laslow, and it was with a broken heart and shaking hands that he drew his own sword. “…Laslow?”

“I…”

“You’ve drawn a weapon, I see.” The king approached him with even, slow steps. As he moved the purple light traveled with him, the hurricane around them grew stronger. Wind whipped by his ears. He was deafened by it, save for the words coming from his lover’s lips.

Xander stepped closer and Laslow took a defensive stance. He spread his feet shoulder-width, bent his knees somewhat, held his sword in front of him with both hands. He prayed. He prayed that it wasn’t too late. He prayed that he could talk some sense into him. He prayed it couldn’t really have progressed so quickly while he was away. Leo said he thought perhaps Laslow had been the only one keeping Xander from losing it but… Xander was _strong_. Laslow believed in him.

“Do you intend to fight me? Say it Laslow. Tell me the truth.” His eyes narrowed. Laslow stopped breathing. Xander raised his voice to a yell. At him. He was yelling _at him_. “ _Do you dare defy your king?!”_

“You’re not..!” Laslow didn’t know what to say really. He wasn’t his king? That was a lie. This was Xander. It had to be Xander, because the alternative was a monster possessing his shell of a body and… Laslow wasn’t ready to lose the man he loved. Not yet. Not ever. “You can snap out of this, milord! Let me protect you, let me help you!”

Xander raised his blade above his head and brought it down. Laslow was frozen for a second. Xander was… attacking him? Somehow it was still shocking, even though he knew he was possessed. He nearly missed his window to evade, he had to roll to the side to escape. Like lightning he was back on his feet. This wasn’t a friendly sparring match.

“How will you help me?” Xander chuckled out the words but it hardly sounded sincere. He turned slowly _lazily_. He was playing with Laslow. “The way I see it, you have betrayed me. There is only one punishment for treason, you know.”

He swung the blade again and Laslow dodged again. They played this game for a few seconds longer, before the wind swirling around them grew too harsh. Xander lunged fast, Siegfried cut horizontally through the wind as if it felt no resistance. Laslow tried to step back, but a gust of the magic did just the opposite. It pushed him forward. “No, no…”

 _Hot_.

His side burned hot where the sword cut into him, where the magic imbued steel sliced into his hip so far it felt as if it had bounced off of his bone and sent a shockwave through his whole body. He hadn’t meant for his voice to come out quite so loud. He hadn’t meant it to come out at all. What was originally just the passing thought of his fiancé’s name turned into a shriek. “ _Xander!”_

Laslow collapsed to his knees.

 

…

 

Haze. It was like a dark haze was in front of his vision. He was only vaguely aware of what was going on, what he was doing. His surroundings didn’t matter. He felt weak. Cold. He felt as if nothing existed anymore, but then… Then he heard it.

_“Xander!”_

Then it didn’t matter that he felt like he was a shell of himself. It didn’t matter how weak he was, or how small his thoughts sounded. All that mattered was _Laslow_. His scream, his _pain_. All that mattered was protecting him. The winds that whipped through the throne room abruptly stopped. Dust and glass clattered to the ground around them. So did Siegfried.

Xander fell to his knees. “Las…Laslow.” He breathed. Laslow was balled up on himself, wrapped around his injury like he was trying to protect it, but Xander was quick to shift him. He was quick to pull Laslow closer, and he pressed his hand hard against the wound.

“Ah!” Laslow hissed in pain, real pain. He was in real pain. Xander couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe it because he hadn’t even really known he was back. He hadn’t known his love was home. He hadn’t known anything.

“ _Help!_ ” Xander shouted it as loud as he could, called out to anyone who may be listening. Laslow lifted his head to look at him, and his eyes were glossy and wet with tears.

“There’s…N-No one is h-here.” His breath sounded so ragged and pained. How could this happen? How could _Xander_ have done this to him? Xander felt panic well up within him.

“I’m sorry. Laslow I’m so—I’m so sorry please…” He hesitated when Laslow lifted up his hands. Both hands, he lifted them to his cheeks. With a shaky touch he brushed his thumbs along the apples of Xander’s cheeks, and he took in a slow breath.

“This is the real you.” He whispered. “This is the king I love.” Xander removed his hand from Laslow’s wound, instead he overlaid his hand with one of his retainer’s, and he turned his head and kissed Laslow’s palm. Laslow put a smile on his face. It was the fakest, weakest smile Xander had seen in his entire life. It may as well have been a grimace. “Please, Xander… smile, for me.”

Xander did not smile. Laslow’s eyes rolled back, and his forehead slumped against Xander’s shoulder. Xander was terrified. More afraid than he thought he had ever been, and not even for himself. Not even for his curse, this horrible demise. He picked up Laslow in his arms and ran, calling out for help from anyone, anyone at all. He would run through the entire town if he had to.

Siegfried was left dull on the floor, in a puddle of Laslow’s blood.

 

…

 

_“Sing with me a song,_

_Of silence and blood._

_The rain falls, but can’t wash away the mud._

_Within my ancient heart dwells_

_Madness and pride._

_Can no one hear my cries?”_

 

…

 

The first time Shigure sang for him, Xander felt great pain. It was followed immediately by great clarity. He felt _relaxed_ for the first time in what felt like a whole year. Yet, even with that weight off of his chest he was afraid. Shigure sang to him a few more times, but he felt that the curse had been lifted. Xander did not want to hear Shigure sing.

Xander wanted to hear Laslow hum while he danced alone under the starlight.

Laslow was not yet recovered. Elise would have been able to heal him easily but… she was nowhere to be found, of course. Leo was always someone Xander relied on for the honest truth, and he said he did not think Laslow would make it.

“However, I also thought you had died, brother. Laslow refused to give up on you. Perhaps you should refuse to give up on him.”

 

…

 

Laslow’s wounds had been healed but he didn’t seem to be waking. The maids had stopped trying. His breathing was slow and even, like he was having a dream. He looked to be asleep. Xander brushed his hand over his. He rubbed his thumb along the engagement ring on his finger.

“My people appear to have forgiven me.” Xander spoke softly to Laslow, he always did. For three days he did. “Leo seems to have handled the politics of the situation. I pray that I can redeem myself, and that my people will no longer live in fear.”

Laslow’s lips were unmoving. Just parted ever so slightly as he breathed in and out in his sleep. “You asked for me to smile, my love, but I am afraid. How can I smile, when I fear I may have lost you? Please. Come back to me.”

Silence hung in the air, and Xander wrapped his hand tight around Laslow’s.

 

…

 

It was the middle of the night when Laslow woke. Regained consciousness, more accurately, because he had not been sleeping. He felt drained and tired. He also felt fear. Where was he? Where was his lord? He sat up. He found himself capable, but he had to brace his weight on his arms. He felt tired. Weak. His muscles felt like they were struggling to hold his own weight. His side ached where he was once sporting a bloody wound.

“Wh…” The voice came from the side of the bed. The _King of Nohr_ was sleeping on the side of the bed, folded up in the most uncomfortable way possible… but when Laslow jolted upright so did Xander. “Laslow.”

“Xander, I…” His voice felt small and weak, but it didn’t matter. Xander wasted no time in moving closer, in pulling him close to him in an embrace. Laslow let his head relax against Xander’s shoulder and he sighed.

“Please, Laslow,” He whispered, “Please forgive me.”

His king was alive. He was himself again. Laslow couldn’t have forgiven him faster, he couldn’t have been _happier_. They were both alive.

 

…

 

In the spring after that disaster, they swayed together on a dancefloor. “It’s strange to see you smiling so much.” Laslow teased, and he pressed his fingertip to Xander’s thin lips. The king kissed him there, and his smile only widened. Laslow’s smile mirrored him.

“Shouldn’t I be entitled to smile? Today I married the most wonderful man to grace this world.”

“How narcissistic of you to have married yourself!” Laslow’s grin widened with his joke, and he shifted so that he was no longer in a dancing stance, but instead his arms were wrapped lazily around his king’s, his _husband’s_ neck.

In the spring after that disaster, they were married, and Laslow felt their bond was too strong for something so awful to ever happen to them again. In the spring after that disaster, they were no longer afraid.

**Author's Note:**

> i love angst but i love happy endings more. Happy ish? I mean someone else is probably gonna get possessed. We played the game guys. If not Xander then maybe Hinoka or Sakura I mean honestly it's a never ending cycle.


End file.
